Rider University Chapter of the AAUP
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    • I - Name
    • II - Purpose
    • III - Membership
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    • VII - Election of Officers
    • VIII - Removal of Officers
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    • XII - Finance
    • XIII - Amendments
  • Saving WCC
    • Decision on Standing Lawsuit
    • AAUP Response to Provost Fredeen's October 2nd Email
    • Important Information on Campus Consolidation
    • Chinese Company Out As Buyer Of Westminster Choir College
    • Kaiwen is Gone
    • Kaiwen Education Reply to a June 2019 Inquiry from the Shenzhen Stock Exchange
    • Update on Kaiwen Education's Financial Status
    • Arbitration Over Layoffs at WCC
    • Kaiwen Education 2018 Annual Report
    • By Federal Reserve Standards Kaiwen Education is a Highly Leveraged and Risky Business
    • Two Updates on Kaiwen's Finances
    • Due Diligence and Kaiwen Education
    • Chronology of a Crisis
    • WCC Reset
    • New Jersey Attorney General’s Office Delivers Major Setback to Rider University’s Plan to Sell Westminster Choir College
    • Westminster Foundation Press Release on AG Investigation
    • Purchase Agreement
    • Faculty Shocked to Learn Secret Agreement Would Allow Buyer to Close Westminster Choir College
    • Universities as the Guardians of Assets
    • Press Release Kaiwen Finances
    • 2019 Report on Kaiwen
    • DejaVuDellOmo
    • Kaiwen Announcement 1/11/19
    • AAUP Goes to the NJ Assembly
    • Sign the Petition to Save WCC
    • WWCAC Letter November 8 2018
    • Kaiwen Education: Report on Company Performance Through the Third Quarter 2018
    • New Information Reveals Chinese Corporation Plans to Take $20 Million Westminster Choir College Endowment despite Prohibitions Imposed by State/Federal Law
    • More Bad News about Kaiwen
    • Claims v. Reality
    • AAUP Challenges Legitimacy of Newly announced Non-Profit Said To Be Created To Run Westminster Choir College
    • Label Your Stuff!
    • WCC Alumni Council Questions and Answers
    • Statement on Proposed Sale of Westminster Choir College Faculty Union Vows to Continue Oppose ill-conceived Sale of Iconic Music School
    • June 7 Letter to Board
    • A Failure of Due Diligence
    • Bond 2017
    • Chronology of the WCC Crisis
    • Kaiwen Education Technology
    • Pending Legal Actions >
      • Legal Complaints against Rider University over Sale of WCC
    • The Legacy of Westminster Choir College
    • Updates and Information Sent to Faculty from AAUP Leadership >
      • A Letter to WCC Faculty regarding President Dell'Omo's Letter
      • Open Letter to Board of Trustees
      • Letter to Faculty
      • How a For-profit Company Might Ruin Westminster
      • A Message from AAUP regarding the potential layoff of Westminster Faculty
      • ​Update on Westminster
    • Press Releases >
      • Outrage Over Rider University's Plan To Sell Legendary Choir College To Chinese For-Profit Company With No Experience in Higher Education
      • DellOmo Lays Off Entire WCC Faculty
    • WCC Crisis in the News >
      • The Coalition to Save Westminster Choir College Initiates Spin-Off Discussions With Rider University Administration
    • Letters of Support for WCC >
      • Eric Whitacre Praises Westminster
      • Statement of support from NJ Higher Ed Leadership Council.
      • Support for Westminster Choir College
    • Teach In at WCC
    • WCC Teach In Audio >
      • Remarks by Laura Brooks Rice
      • Have American Universities Lost Their Way? by Joel Phillips
    • Governance Standards in Institutional Mergers and Acquisitions
  • 2022 Negotiations
    • Negotiation Updates
    • STRIKE FAQ
    • AAUP's Response to Admin's "Critical Need for Change"
    • AAUP v. Admin Proposals
    • CREDO >
      • Admin's Prioritization Report
      • WCC Students Petition DellOmo
      • Dr. Sanjay G. Reddy Speaks to the Chapter
      • A Bargaining Unit Member's Guide to Credo Part 1
      • A Bargaining Unit Member's Guide to Credo Part 2
      • Rider AAUP Executive Committee Recommendations Concerning Credo Consulting
      • Administration Attempts to Bully AAUP Executive Committee
      • Save Rider Rally
Governance Standards in Institutional Mergers and Acquisitions
by Elizabeth Scheiber

The statement that follows is excerpted from a longer draft statement, On Institutional Mergers and Acquisitions, which was prepared by a joint subcommittee of the Association’s Committee A on Academic Freedom and Tenure and the Committee on College and University Governance (Committee T) and approved for publication by the parent committees and by the Association’s Council in November 1981. Committee T in February 1983 approved the separate publication of the following section of that statement entitled Procedural Standards in Implementation which deals with the faculty’s role.

Protection of faculty rights and prerogatives in a merger situation requires early and full faculty involvement in any discussions leading to a merger. The role of the faculty, first in the planning of an institutional merger or acquisition and then in implementing it, derives from the principles of shared responsibility and authority as set forth in the Statement on Government of Colleges and Universities. Because, according to the Statement on Government, “the faculty has primary responsibility for such fundamental areas as curriculum, subject matter and methods of instruction, research, faculty status, and those aspects of student life which relate to the educational process,” and because these areas will inevitably be affected by a merger or acquisition, it is imperative that the faculty of the concerned institutions be afforded a meaningful role in the planning and implementation of mergers and acquisitions. This role is set forth with additional particularity in the Association’s statement on The Role of the Faculty in Budgetary and Salary Matters:1

The faculty should play a fundamental role in any decision that would change the basic character and purpose of the institution, including transformation of the institution, affiliation of part of the existing operation with another institution, or merger, with the resulting abandonment or curtailment of duplicate programs.

Before any decisions on curtailment become final, those whose work stands to be adversely affected should have full opportunity to be heard. In the event of a merger, the faculties from the two institutions should participate jointly in negotiations affecting faculty status and the academic programs at both institutions.
​

The essential point is that the faculty of both institutions should be involved before decisions or commitments to affiliate have been made, or before any decisions on curtailment of programs (if such decisions are an aspect of the affiliation) become final. Preliminary or exploratory discussions about the possibility of institutional affiliation may in some instances occur without full faculty involvement, but full involvement of the faculties of both institutions should begin early in any course of discussion that appears likely to eventuate in an affiliation; any final commitment bearing on institutional affiliation made without full faculty involvement would be inimical to the principles set forth in the Statement on Government and the statement on The Role of the Faculty in Budgetary and Salary Matters.

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  • Home
  • About
    • Mission Statement
    • Chapter Meeting Minutes
    • Presentations from AAUP Meetings
    • Meeting Dates 21-22
    • Points of Contact
    • AAUP Officers
    • AAUP Awards >
      • Bertram Mott Award
      • Henry J. Frank Award
    • P&T Committee Members
    • APC Committee Members
    • UAPC Committees
    • Training for College/School Academic Policy Committee Members
    • CIM Training Video
    • Membership
    • Assumption of Risk and Waiver Form for Employees that is required for travel funds
  • Contract
  • Grievances
    • Grievance Process
    • Amendments to Grievance Process, Updated April 2016
    • Grievance Procedure Explained
  • Constitution
    • I - Name
    • II - Purpose
    • III - Membership
    • IV - Dues
    • V - Chapter Officers
    • VI - Committees
    • VII - Election of Officers
    • VIII - Removal of Officers
    • IX - Disciplining of Members
    • X - Meetings
    • XI - Contract Ratification
    • XII - Finance
    • XIII - Amendments
  • Saving WCC
    • Decision on Standing Lawsuit
    • AAUP Response to Provost Fredeen's October 2nd Email
    • Important Information on Campus Consolidation
    • Chinese Company Out As Buyer Of Westminster Choir College
    • Kaiwen is Gone
    • Kaiwen Education Reply to a June 2019 Inquiry from the Shenzhen Stock Exchange
    • Update on Kaiwen Education's Financial Status
    • Arbitration Over Layoffs at WCC
    • Kaiwen Education 2018 Annual Report
    • By Federal Reserve Standards Kaiwen Education is a Highly Leveraged and Risky Business
    • Two Updates on Kaiwen's Finances
    • Due Diligence and Kaiwen Education
    • Chronology of a Crisis
    • WCC Reset
    • New Jersey Attorney General’s Office Delivers Major Setback to Rider University’s Plan to Sell Westminster Choir College
    • Westminster Foundation Press Release on AG Investigation
    • Purchase Agreement
    • Faculty Shocked to Learn Secret Agreement Would Allow Buyer to Close Westminster Choir College
    • Universities as the Guardians of Assets
    • Press Release Kaiwen Finances
    • 2019 Report on Kaiwen
    • DejaVuDellOmo
    • Kaiwen Announcement 1/11/19
    • AAUP Goes to the NJ Assembly
    • Sign the Petition to Save WCC
    • WWCAC Letter November 8 2018
    • Kaiwen Education: Report on Company Performance Through the Third Quarter 2018
    • New Information Reveals Chinese Corporation Plans to Take $20 Million Westminster Choir College Endowment despite Prohibitions Imposed by State/Federal Law
    • More Bad News about Kaiwen
    • Claims v. Reality
    • AAUP Challenges Legitimacy of Newly announced Non-Profit Said To Be Created To Run Westminster Choir College
    • Label Your Stuff!
    • WCC Alumni Council Questions and Answers
    • Statement on Proposed Sale of Westminster Choir College Faculty Union Vows to Continue Oppose ill-conceived Sale of Iconic Music School
    • June 7 Letter to Board
    • A Failure of Due Diligence
    • Bond 2017
    • Chronology of the WCC Crisis
    • Kaiwen Education Technology
    • Pending Legal Actions >
      • Legal Complaints against Rider University over Sale of WCC
    • The Legacy of Westminster Choir College
    • Updates and Information Sent to Faculty from AAUP Leadership >
      • A Letter to WCC Faculty regarding President Dell'Omo's Letter
      • Open Letter to Board of Trustees
      • Letter to Faculty
      • How a For-profit Company Might Ruin Westminster
      • A Message from AAUP regarding the potential layoff of Westminster Faculty
      • ​Update on Westminster
    • Press Releases >
      • Outrage Over Rider University's Plan To Sell Legendary Choir College To Chinese For-Profit Company With No Experience in Higher Education
      • DellOmo Lays Off Entire WCC Faculty
    • WCC Crisis in the News >
      • The Coalition to Save Westminster Choir College Initiates Spin-Off Discussions With Rider University Administration
    • Letters of Support for WCC >
      • Eric Whitacre Praises Westminster
      • Statement of support from NJ Higher Ed Leadership Council.
      • Support for Westminster Choir College
    • Teach In at WCC
    • WCC Teach In Audio >
      • Remarks by Laura Brooks Rice
      • Have American Universities Lost Their Way? by Joel Phillips
    • Governance Standards in Institutional Mergers and Acquisitions
  • 2022 Negotiations
    • Negotiation Updates
    • STRIKE FAQ
    • AAUP's Response to Admin's "Critical Need for Change"
    • AAUP v. Admin Proposals
    • CREDO >
      • Admin's Prioritization Report
      • WCC Students Petition DellOmo
      • Dr. Sanjay G. Reddy Speaks to the Chapter
      • A Bargaining Unit Member's Guide to Credo Part 1
      • A Bargaining Unit Member's Guide to Credo Part 2
      • Rider AAUP Executive Committee Recommendations Concerning Credo Consulting
      • Administration Attempts to Bully AAUP Executive Committee
      • Save Rider Rally